Note

Thursday, September 29, 2016

I wrote an article for Catholic 365; an
open letter to Tim Kaine, Vice-Presidential candidate, who professes to be a devout Catholic yet supports the
Democratic platform that promotes ideals contrary to the Catholic faith.(Read the article here.)Sadly, Mr. Kaine is not the only Catholic politician who publicly goes
against the Church’s teachings.I
probably should have spoken out sooner, but sometimes fear (brought on by
Satan) gets in the way.

Yes, my friends, there are times when I bite my tongue out of fear …fear of being misunderstood and fear of being maligned.It was only after careful and prayerful consideration I decided to move forward with the commentary.Alas, my fears came to pass.Although some of the comments (on the Catholic 365 website and associated Facebook page ) were positive, there were a few negative ones (with grammar/spelling corrected) that tugged at my heart:

“Move over God;
Patti's in charge now. She'll be making all the decisions and judgments on
everyone's behavior from now on, and will be doing your job for you. She
apparently knows better than you do.”

“In this year of
mercy and compassion, it seems unusual to find someone still focusing on
condemnation and judgment of others.”

“Judge much? You may have your opinion yes. However, God
is the final judge. Claiming he's not devout enough is not your role or
anyone's. It's God's. Signed a Catholic.”

“Why doesn't Patti whatever her name is just make a move
to have Mr. Kaine excommunicated? That'll show him whose boss and is making all
the decisions.”My
response to those comments and those still coming in:

I
will not apologize, nor do I regret speaking my mind.I am a proud Catholic and will do everything
in my power to defend the teachings of the Church, especially when it comes to the sanctity of life and traditional family values.

I am
not judging … far from it.I too am a
sinner.If it weren’t for the teachings
of the Church and for others helping me see the error of my ways, I would be
plunged back into a dark abyss and never return.I do not want that to happen to me or anyone.

"My brothers, if anyone among you should
stray from the truth and someone bring him back, he should know that whoever
brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death
and will cover a multitude of sins. "

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

It was brought to my attention the Archdiocese of
New York's annual Al Smith Dinner will once again be a speaking platform for
both presidential candidates. I understand this is an important event to raise
money for the poor and that the original intent of inviting both candidates was
to bring about a positive rapport between both parties and the Catholic
Church.We
all know now that didn’t work when Mr. Obama was invited and appeared. He has done nothing but continually
degrade the teachings of the Catholic Church by promoting abortion along with
several other issues contrary to our beliefs (i.e. same-sex marriage).His programs and policies find no place for
religious freedom, in fact, takes away that freedom altogether.This
year you will be welcoming Hillary Clinton who has vehemently promoted Planned
Parenthood, late-term abortions, tax-payer funded abortions and was quoted as it pertains to abortion,“…and
deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs,
and structural biases have to be changed.”Inviting a pariah such as Mrs. Clinton would create more
misinformation in mainstream media and much confusion to Catholics.By doing so,
you are also undermining every effort our church is making in evangelizing and
bringing people “home” and most egregiously, contradicting our beliefs with images of you in the media smiling alongside Mrs. Clinton during the event.You, above all, should know what the Catechism of the Catholic
Church says regarding abortion:

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral
evil of every procured abortion.
This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that
is to say, abortion willed either as an end, or
a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:

You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not
cause the newborn to perish.
God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding
life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life mustbe protected with the utmost care from the
moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable
crimes.

Inviting Mrs. Clinton to the dais of this dinner may not be an
acceptance of her politics, but the appearance of acceptance, which is just as
destructive.Your Eminence, Catholics throughout the country look
up to the Church’s leaders for guidance, encouragement and education of how to
follow the Church’s teachings. One would think that since you are the head of Pro-Life at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops you would rather make a statement regarding the sanctity of life rather than create a scandal within the Church. With that in mind, I
humbly ask you prayerfully reconsider your invitation to Mrs. Clinton, in fact, your invitation to Mr. Trump as well. Make this about the Church, the poor, the unborn and not politics.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

I had a conversation this morning with a friend
of mine, Leslie Davis-Blackwell, about how views of the sanctity of life are biased towards the left by the
mainstream media and politicians.We
brainstormed the possible source of this unfortunate diversion from love and
compassion and realized it comes from the one in three who carry darkness in
their souls.

One in three in this country has experienced abortion.I’m not speaking of just women, but men as
well.That statistic applies not just to
average citizens, but also journalists, newscasters,
and politicians.No wonder our country
is mired in the culture of death.

I cannot honestly say all in the public eye are living in denial but remember
… one in three.They keep their deep, dark and shameful
secret buried.Instead of being truthful
with themselves and accepting the fact they took the life of a precious child,
they do all they can to validate their choice by vigorously promoting the pro-choice
ideology and categorizing those of us who speak the truth as judgmental
pro-life fanatics.

I am not judgmental nor a fanatic.I
used to be pro-choice but grew too exhausted continually suppressing the
feelings of guilt and remorse over my abortions.One can only live a lie for so long before it
takes an emotional and physical toll.Spewing the pro-choice rhetoric slowly soured in my mouth, and I eventually found there were not
enough words, bottles of bourbon, drugs or
men that could keep the pain at bay.

It’s no wonder mainstream media and politicians are so vehemently biased.They are living in the shadows of secrets and lies, afraid to face the light of truth.

On September 10, 2016, Rachel's Hope
- Escondido/San Diego, San Diego Silent No More and North County 40 Days for
Life, co-sponsored the fourth annual National Day of Remembrance for Aborted
Children. It was held at St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carlsbad, CA, and
officiated by Father Michael Robinson who gave a touching homily and
led us all in song. Joanne Strantz did a wonderful job as emcee and Rosemary Benefield and Tony DePaola provided valuable insights and information in our fight for life.

As with planning any event, there were "bumps in
the road" (video camera and computer malfunctions), but God answered our
prayers and the ceremony went forward beautifully.

It was an honor to give testimony
and wanted to share my words with you....We are gathered here to mourn the
innocent children lost to abortion and to raise our voices to heaven assuring
them they will never be forgotten and proclaiming their precious lives matter.

It’s also an opportunity for me to share the truth of what abortion does.You see, two of the innocent children we mourn
today are Matthew Thomas and Sarah Catherine - my precious son and
daughter.

We all are aware abortion takes the
life of a child, but did you know there are life-long consequences for the
mother and those around her?

I didn’t.It took many years for me to understand that “To
choose is to lose”.Through choice, my
children lost their life.Through choice, I lost the chance to be a
biological mother because I had a tubal ligation at the age of thirty.I was punishing myself for the abortions … I
didn’t deserve to be a mother.I
eventually adopted, but through choice, my adopted son lost the opportunity to
have a brother and sister, my parents lost two grandchildren, my sister a niece
and nephew, two men lost fatherhood and my husband two more step-children he
would have loved as much as he loves my living son.

My choice resulted other
consequences as well. I tried to ignore
the loss through obsessive behavior, negative attention seeking and substance
abuse which grew over time, culminating into self-loathing, a loss of
self-worth and depression – which eventually led to my becoming suicidal and
being committed to a psychiatric facility.

Sadly, my experience is more of the
rule than the exception and does not limit itself to mothers but to all
involved in the choice to abort.Whether
the choice was made out of fear, embarrassment or intimidation, the loss is
there … sometimes not surfacing for months, years or decades later but always
brewing in the dark recesses of the soul.

Spiritually-speaking, I and
countless others hid from God and some still do, convinced we committed, “the unforgivable sin,” believing He could never
love, let alone forgive someone who had or encouraged an abortion. The shame
and remorse is immeasurable.

Statistics show that approximately
one-third of American women have had at
least one abortion by age 45.Yes, my
friends, one-third. Other studies have
shown about 1 in 10 of these women continue to attend church and many of them,
as well as those complicit in the abortion decision, are still suffering in
silence. They are our neighbors, co-workers, friends and fellow parishioners.

Which brings me to another reason
I’m here…..to assure those suffering in
silence all is not lost.We have a
merciful God who loves all of His children. Nothing, absolutely nothing is unforgivable in God’s eyes if we go to Him with
humble and repentant hearts. I pray their wounded souls can embrace His mercy and forgiveness and reach out for healing
thus receive what has been missing for quite some time …. Peace and Hope.

At this time, I ask you to stand and
pray with me the Prayer for the Unborn:

Although our video camera malfunctioned, we were blessed to have a volunteer who recorded the majority of the service via cell phone.

Friday, September 2, 2016

1 John 1:9 states, “If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.” That verse assures me of God's forgiveness when I accept responsibility for my transgressions and repent. Unfortunately, doing the same in an earthly relationship does not always reap the same reward.

There are times when we unintentionally say or do something to a family member or friend that breeds anger, hurt or distrust. Because we cherish that relationship, we humbly ask for forgiveness, but our plea falls on deaf ears.

Not too long ago, I was trying to help out a friend with a situation, and because the relationship had always been open and honest, I felt comfortable using a little tough love, and in this case, it was necessary. Although the words said were out of love and concern, they were not received in the same manner. I knew deep down I said the right thing and for the right reason; however, holding on to the friendship was more important. I apologized and asked for forgiveness. What followed was a complete loss of contact, and the silence was deafening. I ended up shedding a river of tears, losing hours of sleep and turning into a self-loathing, muddled mess.

Through prayer and meditation it came to me: If a relationship is built on the foundation of mutual love, trust and respect, it will survive even the strongest storm. I hope that is the case and that time will heal the wounds.

Until then I pray:

Heavenly Father, I bring a heavy heart to You at the foot of the cross.

I know You can and will lighten it. Please give me the strength to turn my worries over to you and leave them there ... and place my trust